If you are trying to lose weight, then you may find that you are hungry all the time, even when you know that you have technically ate enough to give you the nutrients and calories that you need. One of the reasons that you are not getting the message of fullness, is an imbalance in leptin levels.

What Does Leptin Do In The Body?

While there are many different hormones in the body that affect weight, leptin is definitely one that you want to pay attention to. Leptin has a huge role in how your body deals with food intake and fat storage. Its function is to alert your brain with the message that you have had enough to eat. In other words, leptin regulates body weight by decreasing the consumption of food.

Leptin is produced by fat cells, which means that if you carry a lot of fat, you are going to produce a lot more leptin. When levels of leptin are high, your metabolism increases and your brain gets the message that no more fat storage is required and that you should stop eating. This helps to avoid giving into cravings.

“Too much body fat equals too much leptin being released and that is equal to a condition called leptin resistance.” – Daily Sabah

When leptin levels are low, however, your metabolism slows down and your brain gets the message that you need food, so you become hungry.

What Happens When It Is Out Of Balance?

If your leptin levels are low, your brain is going to get the message that you are hungry, even if you just ate. This can make portion control almost impossible for most people.

The ironic thing is that overweight people can develop a resistance to leptin, and the message that is being sent to the brain cannot be heard. This is why for some overweight people it is so hard to avoid a craving, even though they know they are full and have had enough food.

How To Reset Leptin Levels

The best way to reset leptin levels is through lifestyle changes. And, if you are overweight, you need to increase your sensitivity to leptin so you can hear the message that it is sending you around being full.

“The leptin resistance is not permanent and is shown to improve with weight loss, so diet and exercise can be beneficial.” – Huffington Post

1. Don’t Skip Meals

When you skip meals or cut down on calories drastically, you can cause a slowdown in your metabolic rate and delay the output of leptin. Unfortunately, you are still producing other chemicals that make you want to eat, and it is very easy to make poor food choices and overeat at this point.

2. Include Zinc In Your Diet

Studies have shown that leptin levels increase when moderate amounts of zinc is administered. You can find natural sources of zinc in seafood, hemp, pumpkin seeds, and legumes.

3. Exercise More

Build more learn muscle mass and become more active to help increase your responsiveness to leptin. Research has shown that modest exercise influences leptin sensitivity in a positive way. There are many experts who believe that interval training can have a big impact on leptin.

4. Get Your Sleep

Sleep has an impact on leptin. Studies have found that people who get 5 1/2-8 hours of sleep per night have a reduced level of leptin in their body, and people who sleep only 5 hours a night have an even lower level of leptin. Sleep issues are usually caused from stress, so it would be beneficial to find ways to deal with your stress levels to get the healing sleep you need.

5. Eat More Protein

There has been evidence that increasing protein to 30 percent of your daily calorie intake can help to increase your leptin sensitivity. Good sources of protein include some protein powders, yogurt, eggs, and peanut butter.